‘Not all superstars can become an MGR’

MGR was a great humanist and an incredibly fascinating man with a keen native intelligence and, unlike the popular portrayal of him, an astute politician, says Kannan, speaking to DTNext from Basra, Iraq, where he is currently serving on behalf of UN. 

“MGR’s  life of poverty, struggle, success and fame, and his god like status, is unique and is an inspiration and an example,” he says. As someone who has interacted with numerous politicians in many countries, Kannan says MGR was initially underestimated. 

“It remains beyond my comprehension that even someone as consummate as Kalaignar M Karunanidhi had underestimated his initiate’s charisma, aura and his political shelf life,” says Kannan. MGR is one of those rare politicians whose legacy continues to be the benchmark of Dravidian politics. 

“MGR is still very much relevant in the state’s star-studded political history,” he says.  However, not all “superstars” can end up as MGR, feels Kannan. 

“People forget MGR’s political armature, and the years of planning that went into it. MGR’s journey to full-fledged public affairs took some 25 years of preparatory hard work, careful planning, do-gooder image building, organisational base and the grudging ability to risk the indignities involved in politics,” he adds.

Interestingly, Kannan observes that although MGR defeated Kalaignar electorally, he could never decimate him politically; similarly, he yielded to the “system” sooner than later. “His second and third administrations reeked of welfare schemes, corruption and liquor barons,” says Kannan. In fact, MGR had this enormous gift of a tough exterior. 

“Nothing stuck to him as he did not hoard for himself and was known for his giving. His relationship with J Jayalalithaa, both intense and equally ambivalent, saw MGR torn between his fondness for his protégé and dejection at her trying to upstage him, says Kannan. It is history’s mystery that MGR, a Congress man at heart, would become the flag-bearer of the Dravidian movement. 

His emergence had turned Tamil Nadu to a state where there was no room for nationalist forces even three decades after his death. He was a phenomenon and an enigma and will remain a hard act to follow for even superstars, says Kannan.